Banh Xeo Recipe

One of my forever favorite foods is banh xeo. Sizzling hot, crispy, and full of flavor and texture, a bite of properly made banh xeo is what I dream about.

The contrast between the hot and crispy rice pancake, the chewiness of the pork and shrimp, and the cold crisp herbs and lettuce all dipped into a mixed dipping sauce is absolute heaven. If you haven’t had banh xeo (or correctly, bánh xèo), I beg you, you need to try it. Get yourself to an authentic Vietnamese restaurant – or better yet, make them right at home. Banh xeo is the perfect party food for the holidays or any get-together from two to twenty two people.

So tested

I have it on good authority (Mike) that even a mid-home made version is way better than a restaurant, but yours won’t be mid. This recipe has been tested over and over until it’s perfect. It was difficult eating so much banh xeo (just kidding) but we did it. It was so good.

What is banh xeo?

Banh xeo is a Vietnamese street food favorite. Some people call banh xeo Vietnamese crepes and while they kind of resemble them in how they’re made, they’re not like crepes at all. The name, banh xeo translates to sizzling cake, and it evokes the sounds of rice batter hitting a red hot pan. They’re hot and savory, crispy when made right, and super addictive.

If you haven’t had it, think of a very thin, savory crispy pancake that’s made with rice flour, water, and turmeric powder. The thin pancakes fold over fillings like pork shrimp, herbs, and vegetables. They’re served with greens, more herbs, and sweet and sour garlic fish sauce, aka nước chấm. The resulting dish is a symphony of flavors, textures, and temperatures.

It’s incredibly popular in Vietnam as a street food and in specialty restaurants. When people think of Vietnamese food, most people think of banh mi and pho, but banh xeo is becoming more and more popular and well known in North America.

What does banh xeo taste like?

With its delicate, crispy golden crust contrasted with hearty fillings: savory pork, sweet shrimp, coconutty coconut milk. It’s super crispy thanks to oil and a hot pan, and fresh thanks to leafy greens and herbs. It’s like a Vietnamese food party in your mouth.

Banh xeo ingredients

Rice flour

Rice flour is what gives banh xeo its signature crispy texture and flavor. Like the name implies, rice flour is rice that’s been finely milled into flour. Look specifically for rice flour and make sure you don’t buy glutinous rice flour, which is the kind you use to make mochi. The most common rice flour, Erawan brand, is probably what you’ll see in Asian grocery stores. It’s imported from Thailand and it comes in a clear bag with red writing on it. The bag that has green writing is glutinous rice flour, that’s NOT the one you want for this recipe.

All-purpose flour

A bit of all-purpose flour helps bind the batter and adds extra crispiness instead of using only rice flour. It also has the benefit of browning better than rice flour, so you get a more golden pancake.

Cornstarch

The cornstarch distributes itself throughout the batter and helps block gluten from forming which makes the banh xeo both tender and crisper than using rice flour and cornstarch alone. Also, because cornstarch doesn’t absorb much oil, it leads to a lighter, crisper, less oil-bogged banh xeo.

Turmeric

Turmeric is what gives banh xeo its signature golden yellow color. Some people think there are eggs in banh xeo because they’re yellow, but all of the color is thanks to turmeric! It also gives the batter a tiny bit of an earthy turmeric flavor.

Coconut milk

Coconut milk makes the batter a little thick and adds that delicious coconut essence. Look for a 14-ounce-ish can of coconut milk. Our favorite brand is Aroy-D which can be easily found in Asian grocery stores. We’ve also used Thai Kitchen and it’ll do if it’s all you have.

Green onions

Sliced green onions in the batter give a little bit of green. To be honest, you can skip it if you like, but I like the little green specks for #aesthetic reasons.

Onion

Thinly sliced onions add a layer of crunch and sweetness. The onions join the party at the same time as the pork belly and shrimp so that you can see the onions on the outside. They caramelize up and get really delicious.

Pork belly

The classic banh xeo meat! Look for thickly cut pork belly, about 1/4 inch in thickness, or what looks like extra-extra thick-cut bacon. Side note, did you know that side pork is the same cut as pork belly? So if you see side pork, it’s the same. Cut your pork belly strips into little rectangles, about 2 inches in length.

Shrimp

You’ll want to use shell-off, peeled, and deveined shrimp. We like tail-on shrimp because, well, if you’ve ever had crispy shrimp tails, you know that they’re delicious. If that’s not your thing, tail-off works too. The only suggestion I have about the shrimp is don’t go too big. You want to be able to fold over nicely when presenting, and a super large shrimp will make the banh xeo lopsided. I think medium is good size.

How to make banh xeo

1. Prep the fillings – cut the pork belly into strips, peel and devein the shrimp, and slice the onions.
2. Set up the vegetables and sauce – get the vegetables washed and ready for eating. Put the vegetables and herbs on a plate or platter and get the fish sauce ready with small bowls for dipping.

3. Mix up the batter – add the rice flour, flour, and cornstarch to a bowl or large liquid measuring cup. Whisk in the coconut milk, water, turmeric, and salt. If you have the time, you can make this batter ahead of time so that the flours get saturated. Right before making the banh xeo, give the batter a good mix and stir in the sliced green onions.
4. Cook – heat up a bit of oil over medium-low (or low if you have a gas stove) in a non-stick pan, then add some sliced onions, a couple of pieces of pork belly and shrimp. Let cook for 1-2 minutes or until slightly browned on one side, then flip the pork belly and shrimp. Give the batter a quick stir and add a small amount of batter to the pan, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. If needed, add a bit more batter into any spaces that need it. Continue to cook, uncovered, over low heat, until the edges of the banh xeo are deeply caramelized and crispy. Take a peek under the banh xeo and if it’s golden brown and crispy looking, carefully fold it over and place it on a wire rack.

5. Cook more – Keep warm in the oven while you continue to make the rest of the banh xeo.
6. Enjoy – You can enjoy the banh xeo as they come straight out of the pan, or you can make a bunch and then eat them all at once. To serve everything at once, keep the banh xeo warm and crispy in a low oven. Make sure to place the banh xeo on a wire rack so they don’t get soggy. When ready to eat, serve them with the lettuce, herbs, and fish sauce. Enjoy!

How do you eat banh xeo?

The first thing to know is that it’s a handheld food. Most people eat it wrapped up in lettuce with fresh herbs dipped in Vietnamese dipping sauce aka nước chấm. Use a pair of chopsticks to off a small piece of banh xeo, grab a piece of lettuce and wrap it around the outside. Then, while you hold it like a lettuce wrap, add some herbs, dip it fish sauce and pop it in your mouth. The heat and savoriness of the banh xeo with the cool freshness of vegetables and herbs is a magic contrast that tastes amazing. Sometimes you’ll find that people eat banh xeo wrapped in rice paper as well, kind of like a salad/spring roll banh xeo combination. You can also just eat it on its own, dipped in fish sauce.

What’s in banh xeo?

Banh xeo batter has rice flour, cornstarch, coconut milk, and turmeric. The fillings are typically pork belly and shrimp with fresh bean sprouts tucked in after cooking. Sometimes you’ll find cooked mung beans added as well.

Why is banh xeo yellow?

It’s the turmeric. The turmeric makes the batter yellow which makes it look slightly eggy even though there aren’t any eggs in the batter. It also adds a hint of flavor: a little hint of earthy pepperiness.

Banh xeo fillings

The most well-known banh xeo has pork belly and peeled, tail-on shrimp, folded over cooked mung beans and fresh bean sprouts. While those are the authentic fillings, feel free to change them up and customize as desired. We’re not big fans of mung bean or fresh bean sprouts in our house, so we tend to skip out on them. While we leave those (what some people call essential) ingredients out, we don’t really deviate from the ideal combination of pork belly and shrimp. The fattiness of the pork belly with the sweetness of shrimp combine into a happy little surf and turf pancake. Vietnamese food loves to combine two proteins, especially pork and seafood. Banh xeo is an iconic example.

Herbs and vegetables

After your banh xeo is ready, it’s time to eat and one of the best parts of eating banh xeo is the contrast of freshness next to the hot savoriness. Some vegetables you can serve alongside for wrapping are:

fresh bean sprouts, red or green leaf lettuce, fresh mint, cilantro, green onions, Thai basil, shiso, thinly sliced white onions, cucumbers, carrots, daikon

Tips and tricks

Low and slow

The key is low and slow. Most recipes on the internet suggest a very hot pan where you’ll hear that signature sizzling sound, but I’ve found that low and slow does the trick. And, you don’t need as much oil as you think you do either. Cooking low and slow means you can use non-stick cookware, which releases super easily. Letting the banh xeo have the time to crisp up over low heat ensures that everything gets well-browned and crispy without burning. Keep the heat on the lowest setting and once the banh xeo starts getting brown around the edges, you’ll hear that signature sizzling that everyone talks about.

Make the batter in advance

Making the batter in advance and letting it sit in the fridge helps the flours become more hydrated and become more viscous. This makes the batter thinner with a more uniform structure. A thinner pancake means a crispier one.

Leave it uncovered

Most recipes say you should cover banh xeo but you don’t need to –  in fact, it’ll make your banh xeo soggy because of condensation. Instead, you’ll get better results if you cook low and slow. Letting it crisp, uncovered, over low heat means that the banh xeo cooks through while staying extra crispy.

Not too much oil

Contrary to what everyone on the internet says, you don’t need a huge amount of oil to make crispy banh xeo. You need a touch, but the fat from the pork belly is going to render and give you more than enough fat to make things crispy.

Swirl and distribute

You don’t need to use too much batter – you want to just cover the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry about the batter getting underneath the onions, pork belly, and shrimp – they should be visible on the outside anyway. Start off with just a bit of batter, swirl the pan to distribute, then add extra batter to any spaces that need it.

Dipping sauces

The ubiquitous mixed fish sauce, aka nước chấm is the sauce for dipping. It’s sweet, sour, spicy, full of flavor, and incredibly addictive. Most families have their own secret recipe for fish sauce since the ratios of sugar, garlic, chili, lime, fish sauce, and water are all down to preference. Here’s a post on Mike’s famous nước chấm. He’s the dedicated fish sauce maker in our home because his fish sauce is truly the best!

Do I need special equipment?

Nope! All you need is a pan and not even a specialty one at that. Our favorite pans to use are small, non-stick pans. When we make banh xeo at home, I like to have several pans going at once since each pancake takes a while to make crispy. Smaller pans are easier to control compared to big ones, but of course, it’s up to you!

If you loved this

Banh xeo can fill you up on their own, especially if you’re having a lot of them, but if you want to throw a whole Vietnamese party, please invite me and try these recipes:

xoxo
-Steph

Banh Xeo Recipe

Sizzling hot, crispy, and full of flavor and texture, a bite of properly made banh xeo is what I dream about.

Serves 12 banh xeo

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

• 1 3/4 cups rice flour 255 grams
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour 60 grams
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1.5 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups water
• 14 oz coconut milk 1 can
• 1 green onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 onion thinly sliced
• 1 lb pork belly slices cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• Vietnamese herbs optional
• nước chấm to serve, see notes

• In a bowl or large liquid measuring cup, whisk together the rice flour, flour, cornstarch, turmeric, and salt. Stir in the can of coconut milk, and 3 cups of water, mixing well. If you have the time, let the batter sit, covered, in the fridge for 1 hour or up to overnight.

• When ready to cook, whisk the batter and stir in the sliced green onions.

• Heat a small non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a touch of oil and when hot, add some sliced onions, a couple of slices of pork belly and 2-3 shrimp. Cook, unmoving, until the shrimp is pink and the pork belly is seared on one side. Flip all the pieces of pork belly and shrimp.

• Stir the bánh xèo batter and spoon or ladle in a small amount of batter into the pan. Swirl to coat. You want just enough batter to thinly coat the bottom of the pan. If needed, spoon in extra batter into any bare spots.

• Cook, on medium-low to low heat until the bánh xèo batter starts to crisp up and brown along the edges. It will start to release and curl up a bit.

• Take a peek underneath and if it’s brown and crispy, carefully fold in half and remove from the pan. Eat immediately or keep warm in the oven on a wire rack so the bánh xèo doesn’t get soggy.

• Repeat making bánh xèo as needed and enjoy the bánh xèo hot with lettuce, fresh herbs, and Vietnamese dipping fish sauce.

Makes about 12 crepes, which serves about 6 for dinner.
Estimated nutrition doesn’t include dipping sauce, lettuce, or herbs.

Nutrition Facts

Banh Xeo Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 crepe)

Calories 409
Calories from Fat 262

% Daily Value*

Fat 29.1g45%

Saturated Fat 14.9g93%

Cholesterol 73mg24%

Sodium 265mg12%

Potassium 162mg5%

Carbohydrates 25.5g9%

Fiber 1.6g7%

Sugar 1.3g1%

Protein 11.2g22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.